Not Something You See Every Day

Walking down a dark alleyway confidently, maybe even arrogantly, Gray headed to another part of the city. Somewhere close by of course, he wasn’t going to stay out all night. So, he took a shortcut through a side alley.

If he were anyone else, he’d be too scared to walk down such a place at night. But considering his skills and abilities he wasn’t too worried. With his Semblance and other skills he was halfway convinced that he was the most dangerous person walking around the streets at the moment. However, he did feel like he should still be cautious. He still didn’t know what kind of limits his Semblance had.

Which was why he left that restaurant with the outdoor area behind and regrouped. If his Semblance had stopped for any reason while he was in the middle of... that, then he’d get into lots of trouble. Gray wasn’t quite willing to test his Semblance on the authorities.

Yet.

He walked along, eyes scanning for movement out of habit. As he was walking, he wondered what he should call his Semblance. He still didn’t know everything about it but it’d still be nice to have a word for it instead of always referring to it as “his Semblance.”

He ambled along, idly thinking of names as he drifted through shadows and perfectly navigated around rubbish and refuse. He could see where he was walking well enough even if there wasn’t much light here between buildings.

That trick he learned to blur light and shadow around himself had another nifty little application. If he used the Aura around his eyes as an extra set of irises, he could allow a little more light to get through. Of course, he only tried this in dark places so as not to strain his eyes too much. But it was pretty handy at times like this.

Maybe he actually was some kind of assassin, now that he thought about it. Though, he had yet to really off anyone. Maybe he could be a really sneaky thief? Or be the best hunter out in the wild? Not only was his skill set suited for being quiet and sneaky, but his weapons too. Gray chuckled at how it all seemed to line up as he hefted Obscurity in his left hand.

Obscurity was his retractable quarterstaff that usually hung on his belt in its short form. While some chose to use a sword, Gray found that the staff agreed with him much more. Plus, he really enjoyed embarrassing sword-users who thought they were better than others. There were few things more satisfying than the sound of cracking the staff on someone's knuckles, elbows, knees or shins. Maybe even their head if Gray was feeling ruthless.

And of course, since everything was a gun, he definitely had to craft his weapons with that in mind. Which was why the sheaths for his daggers, Haze and Murk, could turn the bladed weapons into two silenced pistols called Mist and Wisp.

Gray smiled and shook his head as he patted Murk strapped to his right thigh.

“Maybe it’s because I’ve played too many stealth based video games?” Gray wondered out loud. Or perhaps it all started when he played hide-and-seek in the woods by his home for the first time as a kid. There was something thrilling about evading capture or tracking down a target. Using all the trees to hide or watching his step to avoid breaking sticks. He also might have taken the game a little too far sometimes as the other kids got tired of always losing. He didn’t regret it though. Stalking through the woods was too much fun. He switched from hide-and-seek to hunting Grimm when he was finally old enough to attend a combat school.

As his professor said, he was probably the most suited as a hunter out of all his fellow classmates. Others might use axes or longswords, shotguns or grenade launchers, but Gray? No.

Gray was all about the silent kill.

Daggers, silent pistols, a staff that you could attach the pistols to, to make his absolute pride and joy.

No. Out there in the wild he was in his element. Avoiding detection was his talent. And sneaking by unnoticed was his hobby. It really was no wonder that his Semblance would be something like this, now that he had a couple of days to think about it. It was the ultimate stealth.

He was on the other side of the alleyway now. Gray now stood on a street with some store fronts leading back to the more populated roads. He put the staff away and started walking towards a Dust store that he frequented. He’ll be starting at Beacon tomorrow so he thought that he might as well stock up on supplies before the big day.

Tonight would be his last night at home with his parents since Beacon had its own dormitories. So, he’d better finish up with this nights training, stock up and head home. He didn’t want to lose out on some sleep only to wake up early for the flight.

Beacon Academy sat on top of a cliff face above a lake. So, airship was the only way to get there.

Gray was close to the store now. From Dust Till Dawn it was called. The store front was in view, however, judging from the worried and concerned looks that many pedestrians were throwing in the store's direction, something told Gray that something was up.

He was almost at the corner before crossing the road while listening to some worried whispers of, “Was that him?” and “I hope Mr. Llwyd is okay.” and “Should we call the police?”

Gray was starting to get worried himself. Brenin Llwyd was getting on in years, even if he was spry and running a number of businesses by himself. Mr. Llwyd wasn’t much of a talker but after working part-time with him, Gray developed a lot of respect for the man.

So, if anything happened to the old coot, Gray might then find out if he was assassin material after all.

Just then something crashed through the stores front window, stopping Gray in his tracks.

A mass of red and black disentangled themselves to reveal a man in a suit scrambling away from...

A little girl?

With... with a scythe?

Gray didn’t know how to react as the girl, wearing a black and red gothic style dress with a red cape of all things, stood up, her mechanical weapon unraveling itself. She held it on her shoulder in what she probably thought was a cool pose. Only, Gray couldn’t get over how the red and black gardening tool was bigger than the girl herself!

The girl then whipped her scythe around and around before jamming the pointy bit into the road, which would likely cost the city a few hundred lien to fix. Oddly, music seemed to be playing quietly from somewhere until a click from the girl's other hand brought Gray’s attention to the red headphones she was holding.

There was a moment of silence in which some bad looking guys looked through the stores window at the scene.

Gray himself was just kind of stunned by the whole thing. Standing at the corner looking on, he wasn’t sure what to make of the girl. She seemed younger than him but maybe that’s just because she was short. It was likely that she was a Huntress in training judging by the weapon, but even so she looked like she would barely be starting at Beacon Academy. More likely that she was still attending one of the smaller combat schools in Vale.

“Okay...” Gray heard one of the men in the store say. This one wore a white suit and a bowler hat like it was in fashion. If it weren’t for his attire the red hair alone would have made him stick out next to those other guys, likely his henchmen. They wore black suits with red ties, red sunglasses, even though it was in the evening, and some kind of top hat. Was this some kind of mafia? Did Vale have a mafia family? “Get her.” The guy in the white suit said to the others, sounding annoyed that they weren’t already doing that.

The mafia goons stumbled out of the Dust store and charged the little Huntress. One of them took a swing as she put away her headphones, but she was too quick. Before Gray even thought to try to intervene, the munchkin Huntress leaped up while still firmly grasping the scythe planted in the ground. Parallel to the handle, she then started spinning around like it was a sideways stripper pole. Two revolutions in she smacked the goon with both booted feet.

Using the momentum from the spin she ripped the scythe from the ground and landed in a battle-ready position. The goons still standing tried to surround her but that tactic didn’t turn out well for them as she pulled a trigger on that crop harvester, eliciting a gunshot from one end. Somehow, this gave her more momentum to spin around and uppercut a dude into the air with the butt of the scythe.

So, that thing was also a gun. Of course it was.

The girl kept spinning that farmers favorite tooth pick, using momentum again, to then bring it smashing onto a guy's head. The mafioso got flattened under that heavy looking piece of garden warfare. Which was funny to see when a little girl was swinging it around with apparent ease.

A third well-dressed thug whipped out a machine gun and opened fire, and once again the girl in the red cape fired from her reaper of dead souls, the momentum flinging her out of harm's way. She hopped from place to place to avoid more bullets, firing as she went.

Then with a stunning combination of momentum-from-bullet-fire and terrifying speed out of nowhere, she whizzed straight for the unlucky soul and tripped him up, flipping him into the air as she kept going. She swung at the ground, impaling her scythe once more to stop herself. Her body hung sideways in mid-air for a millisecond before she somehow swung around, the tip of her scythe in the ground ignoring the laws of physics.

She once again used her own momentum to flip herself into the air, reaching the guy she had just sent on a trip, and batted him down to the ground like a fly.

Gray could only stare, quite thoroughly stunned as the reaper in the red cape landed.

“What... the actual fuck?” He muttered. He was impressed. Gray had seen a lot of talented kids his age do similar things. But somehow using a scythe so effortlessly made it all that much cooler. Especially since a little girl was swinging that... thing around. You wouldn’t expect someone so small to have that much strength. It was kind of a bizarre image actually.

Not only was she strong with that giant’s face razor, she handled that fight in a matter of seconds. There wouldn’t have been a fight to jump into if Gray had intervened. The least he could have done was take out a couple of the goons with his own guns, he supposed. But honestly, he kind of just wanted to watch. It was quite a captivating, and one-sided, fight. She would have broken quite a few records if she were in his school.

It almost made him feel like sparring with her. Although, he wasn’t entirely sure how that fight would go.

“Well Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening.” The ginger thief was saying, bringing Gray back to the scene and interrupting his thoughts. The boss thief dropped a cigar he had been smoking and crushed it under the tip of a cane he was holding in his right hand. “And as much as I’d love to stick around,” He raised his cane and pointed the tip at little Red. “I’m afraid this is where we part ways.”

And then something that looked suspiciously like a gun sight flipped up at the tip.

Of course, it was also a gun.

Just as Gray finally thought to get involved, by raising Wisp to take aim, something bright and loud shot out of the end of the cane making him flinch and squint. There was an explosion, making him take cover, then the sound of something shattering and crumbling.

Gray looked up after the flash from the explosion had passed, just as little Red landed on the ground. It looked like she had dodged in time. Gray looked ahead of her but couldn’t see the Gingerbread Thief anywhere. Just a ruined street.

That’s more taxpayer lien. Not that he was a taxpayer yet.

And, well, he really shouldn’t be talking about thieves if he didn’t want to be a hypocrite.

Little Red was looking around for the crime boss and seemed to spot something off to the right. Gray followed suit and saw the bowler wearing ginger climbing a fire escape on the side of an apartment block.

That made Gray almost face-palm. Of all the ways to exit a scene, especially with the number of alleyways off of this street, that’s the way he chooses?

Old man Llwyd appeared at the door to his shop, finally coming out of hiding when everything went silent. Red turned to him and asked, “You okay if I go after him?”

Wow, this girl was proactive. She asked that like she chased bad guys every day.

Of course, Mr Llwyd only grunted his approval. Typical Llwyd.

Then Red charged off towards the building.

What a hero.

Gray briefly wondered if he should follow and finally try to help. All he did so far was stand and watch as a little girl did all the work. Very good work, mind you. It still rankled though.

In the end, he guiltily decided that she had this one. He would rather check on Llwyd. Gray eyed the bodies of the fallen, hopefully just ****. The Reaper of Souls incarnate could handle the Dust thief just fine.

Gray approached Mr. Llwyd and deactivated his Semblance, double checking his body to make sure the blur effect was gone.

“Hey, you okay old man?” Gray asked.

Brenin Llwyd jumped when he heard Gray’s voice, not having noticed him until now.

“Wh– when did you get here?” Llwyd asked back. He still seemed shaken up now that Gray could see him up close.

“Just a moment ago. Heard the explosion.” Gray lied. The truth wouldn’t have made much sense so he fibbed.

Llwyd nodded and looked at the wrecked ground in the middle of the street. That was going to leave a mark on his business.

“Did they get any of your money?” Gray asked, not really knowing what to ask.

“They didn’t want money.” Llwyd shook his head, looking at the fallen mafia goons. “Just Dust.”

Dust? Not both? What kind of thief would ignore money when they were robbing a place?

Just then Gray heard what sounded like an engine starting up. Not just any engine, but an airship engine. But that didn’t make any sense. He looked around for the source and stopped dead when he saw a Bullhead airship floating above the apartment block that Red had just climbed.

“How did they get an airship here without anyone noticing?” Gray wondered out loud. Mr. Llwyd could only shake his head.

A spotlight turned on and focused on the roof of the apartment block. A moment later an explosion rocked the building. Gray tensed. Maybe letting Red go all on her own wasn’t a good idea. He made to jump into the fray but before he could take a couple steps forward purple light bloomed above. Threads of purple light shot out from the rooftop and struck the airship over and over.

“Did Red do that?!” Gray exclaimed. Somehow, he didn’t believe that little girl could throw weird flowing energy around like that.

As the Bullhead rocked around from the hits another purple thing shot out from the roof. This time it looked more like a flare that shot past the airship and stopped right above it. A circle of script burst from it and dark clouds formed out of thin air. Lightning crackled and icicles rained down on the metal bird.

No way Red did that. If she did that, Gray would eat his boots.

The icicles impaled that craft before the storm above eventually stopped its ice shower. Whoever was inside that thing was still alive because fire shot out from the open side door. Gray couldn’t see very clearly from all the way on the ground but they appeared to be wearing red.

Lots of red today, Gray mused.

So, Mr. Dust Thief wasn’t alone anymore. He had a getaway and a Huntsman or Huntress who could throw fire around.

Another explosion rocked the building accompanied by a shrieking noise. Debris and chunks of roof were blasted into the air. All this action must have woken up the neighbors by now. The people living on the top floor must be shitting themselves. It’s a wonder no one had called the cops yet.

Something long and sharp shot towards the ship. Something purple once again, but this time it seemed to be made of irregular chunks. It zoomed towards the Bullhead and whoever was in control of all that fire before shot the hurtling spike with small bursts of energy. The spike seemed to break into its smaller pieces only to reform and continue on. The Bullhead made a man-oeuvre and the spike scrapped across the wingspan of the ship. The spike split off into three tendrils, flitting around the ship, threatening to attack from multiple points. Suddenly a sphere of energy burst out from the damaged ship and repelled the threads of debris, the purple energy faded from them and they fell like glowing ash.

Gray then heard gunshots coming from the rooftop. That must have been little Red the Reaper. He sighed in relief knowing that she was okay. However, the gunshots didn’t seem to do much before another shrieking explosion erupted atop the roof.

Gray held his breath when the Bullhead finally closed its side door and flew off across the city skyline. Did that mean that Red lost? Was she okay? This time he finally decided to not be a bystander when a little girl could be hurt. He ran to the apartment building’s fire escape, leaving Mr. Llwyd to look after his store.

Once he reached it however, two figures appeared at the top. One was Red looking unhurt. The other was a woman with blonde hair, a white shirt, a corset, a pencil skirt and another damn cape. This one was black and purple.

Gray blinked in confusion, wondering where she came from as he hadn’t seen her until now. But her presence made sense after all the crazy purple energy attacks being thrown around. There was definitely no way that little Red had a hand in that.

Sirens sounded in the distance getting closer.

“Oh, now they show up.” Gray muttered. Took them long enough. Or maybe the events had only taken seconds but he would have thought to hear those sirens earlier than this.

As Red and the Huntress began the climb down the building, Gray thought that staying and possibly being questioned by the authorities wouldn’t be the most fun experience. So, he reactivated his Semblance and backed off to a dark corner. He mused from the shadows that he hadn’t really done anything and he felt kind of lame for that, but really, he had just stumbled on the scene. He was pretty much a bystander in all of this. A civilian watching the remains of a car wreck.

He still felt pretty lame.

Cop cars pulled into the street before the two reached the bottom of the fire escape. Police filed out of the cars and took stock of the destroyed street and the prone mafia dudes. Some cops approached the fire escape and waited for the Huntress and the little girl to get down. Others started asking Mr. Llwyd some questions.

Gray stood back and watched the scene, using both his Semblance and his shadow blur effect to avoid attention.

“All I wanted was some Dust and ammunition.” Gray said to himself. From Dust Till Dawn was now completely cordoned off. Police carried the black-suited thugs to ambulances that were now pulling in to the street.

“I guess I could just conserve ammo and stick to melee tactics for a bit.” Gray mused. At least he had gotten in some training with his Semblance. He was a step closer to understanding it. And he got to touch boobs. That little experiment proved to have many interesting future applications. And there would be girls living in the dorms at Beacon. Perfect for some... research? Yeah. Research.

He smiled while observing the Huntress leading little Red away to a cop car. They were escorted by a pair of police.

“There goes meeting a strong Huntress and a young prodigy.” He wasn’t all that upset at the loss, but watching Red’s fight kind of made him want to get better himself. He wasn’t a weakling by any means. It was just that watching a fight could inspire some lust for battle sometimes. And that fight on the roof top, too. Just how strong was that lady?

As the stern looking blonde got into the car after Red, Gray couldn’t help but feel like he’d seen her somewhere before. The car drove away down the street as he tried to think of where.

Unnoticed by Gray, a crow, standing unnaturally still atop a lamp post, also watched the police car drive away before taking flight.